Condensate trap

ABSTRACT

A device which can be adapted for insertion into a cooling medium for condensing vapors from gaseous streams comprising a tubular container having an inlet tube and outlet tube, a cup member disposed within said container, a coil disposed within said cup member and communicating with said outlet tube and an open ended dip tube which projects through the bottom of said cup member and terminates in said container below said cup member, the purpose of said coil being to pre-cool in-flowing gaseous streams and thereby precondense vapors from such streams, said cup member disposed to catch and retain said precondensed vapors.

United States Patent Carter Dec. 17, 1974 CONDENSATE TRAP PrimaryExaminerWilliam J. Wye [75] Inventor, D Charles Carter Dayton OhioAttorney, Agent, or FirmBobby D. Scearce; Bruce Stevens [73] Assignee:Monsanto Research Corporation, St.

57 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: July 23, 1973 Appl. No.: 381,945

A device which can be adapted for insertion into a cooling medium forcondensing vapors from gaseous streams comprising a tubular containerhaving an inlet tube and outlet tube, a cup member disposed within saidcontainer, a coil disposed within said cup member and communicating withsaid outlet tube and an open ended dip tube which projects through thebottom of said cup member and terminates in said container below saidcup member, the purpose of said coil being to pre-cool in-flowinggaseous streams and thereby precondense vapors from such streams, saidcup member disposed to catch and retain said precondensed vapors.

3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure CONDENSATE TRAP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention described herein was made in the course of or underContract No. AT-33-l-GEN-53 with the United States Atomic EnergyCommission.

The invention described herein relates to improvements in apparatus forcondensing, freezing out, or otherwise removing condensable vapors fromgaseous streams.

Various kinds of process, analytical, and vacuum equipment require theuse of cooled condensate traps to remove various unwanted condensablevapors from v gaseous streams which may be contained within suchequipment. For example, in systems involving the handling of high puritygases, freeze-out traps or more commonly called cold traps, arefrequently used to remove such vapors as water vapor, volatilehydrocarbons and other gaseous impurities. High vacuum equipment alsooften uses condensate traps to remove unwanted vapors from the vacuumsystem in order to attain ultra low vacuum levels. Also, variousinstrumentation such as mass spectrometers, helium leak detectors, andother equipment have as a part thereof a cooled condensate trap eitherfor the purpose of attaining low vacuum levels within suchinstrumentation or for isolating various condensable gaseousconstituents for examination. Apparatus for analytical sampling oftenrequires the use of such condensate traps to isolate condensablesamples, such as environmental samples from the atmosphere, foranalysis.

. Various types of condensate traps are well-known in the art and areused for such purposes as gas liquefaction, purification, andseparation, condensate collection, and for high vacuum use. For example,a condensate trap by Gaydasch (US. Pat. No. 2,659,452) comprises amodification of the standard cold finger type trap modified to eliminatedip tube clogging and thereby increase capacity of the trap. TheGaydasch design incorporates an annular space (dead air space) around ashortened inlet tube to eliminate clogging. A cooled outlet tube whichis partially immersed in a coolant is included to ensure efficientfreeze out. Similarly, Deaton, et al., (US. Pat. No. 3,194,054)incorporates a trap that appears unique in physical configuration forinclusion into the apparatus covered by that patent, but the trapincluded comprises little more than a coil immersed in a cooling medium.

Condensate traps and the like existing in the prior art suffer from oneor more disadvantages which are overcome by the invention describedherein. These disadvantages include but are not necessarily limited to:low capacity for condensing and holding impurities in the trap, largesize, lack of portability, difficulty of installation and removal from asystem of which the trap is a part, or inefficient use of coolant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the problems and disadvantages ashereinabove described, it is an object of this invention to provide animproved condensate trap having high capacity.

Another object of this invention is to provide a condensate trap notsusceptible to clogging.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cold trap havinga precooling feature for making efficient use of coolant.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a condensatetrap having high capacity and which can be easily installed and removedfrom a system or apparatus incorporating such trap.

These and other objects of the invention described herein will becomeapparent as the detailed description proceeds.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the following detailed description of specificembodiments thereof read in conjunction with accompanying drawingwherein the FIGURE is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodimentof the condensate trap herein described.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION One embodiment of the invention described herein isshown in the FIGURE and comprises an elongated generally tubularcontainer 1 having in the upper portion thereof an inlet tube 2 and anoutlet tube 3. Cup member 4 is disposed at any suitable position withincon tainer 1 and in a spaced relationship to the inner surface ofcontainer 1 such as shown in the FIGURE. Inlet tube 2 and outlet tube 3may, respectively, have disposed at the ends thereof connecting means 5,such as a ball joint, to incorporate the condensate trap into aprocessing sequence. Tubular coil 6 may be disposed within cup member 4and communicates with outlet tube 3 and an open ended dip tube 7, whichprojects through the bottom of cup member 4 and terminates withincontainer 1 below cup member 4.

Inlet tube 2 projects through a wall of container 1 and terminateswithin cup member 4 near coil 6, and may contain a necked portion 8 inthe end thereof within cup member 4.

Port 9, which may be sealable by closure means 10, such as a rubberstopper or ground glass taper, may be provided in container 1 to allowremoval of condensed vapors when the condensate trap is not inoperation.

In operation, the condensate trap such as shown in the FIGURE may beinstalled in a larger apparatus or system for the purpose of condensinggaseous impurities from gaseous streams which may be processed in suchapparatus or system. The condensate trap may be installed in a generallyvertical position such as shown in the FIGURE, thus allowing condensateto accumulate within cup member 4 and container 1, respectively, at thebottom thereof. Coolant may be supplied to the external surface ofcontainer 1 in any convenient fashion such as by passing cooled fluidsover the surface of container 1 or by inserting container 1 in a cooledbath. Any cooled bath may be used as are well-known in the art,depending on the function and use of the condensate trap within thesystem of which it is a part, and depending on gas or impurity which isintended to be condensed, and such baths may include such as liquidnitrogen, oxygen, helium, hydrogen, inert gases and other cryogenicfluids, and dry ice, icewater and other coolants.

A gaseous stream which may be processed in a system of which thecondensate trap is a part may be allowed to enter the trap, which iscooled as hereinabove described, through inlet tube 2 and necked portion8, and then circulate over coil 6 into and out of cup member 4 to thebottom of container 1, where the stream is cooled as hereinabovedescribed and certain vapors are thereby condensed. The gaseous stream,now cooled by contact with the cooled container 1, passes through diptube 7 and coil 6 and exits the trap through outlet tube 3, and in sopassing cools coil 6. Coil 6 is thereby sufficiently cooled so thatprecondensing of vapors from the gaseous stream entering through inlettube 2 occurs on coil 6 and the vapors condensed thereby are held withincup member 4. Thus when the gaseous stream reaches the colder lowerportion of container 1 sufficient vapors have been removed so that thelower portion of container 1 remains unclogged for extended periods oftime, and condensate holding capacity of the trap is increased.

Container 1, cup member 4, coil 6, and the various tubing incorporatedwithin the invention as shown in the FIGURE may be of any convenientsize and shape to match the apparatus into which the condensate trap isincorporated so long as the purposes and objects of the inventionhereinabove described are met. Similarly, the various component partsmay be constructed of quartz or other glasses or of metal, and,therefore, materials of construction of the various component parts isnot important so long as the invention functions to precool an incominggaseous stream to partially remove condensable vapors therefrom andretain such precondensed vapors in a cup-shaped member such as cupmember 4. Similarly, the location and configuration of inlet tube 2,outlet tube 3, necked portion 8, coil 6, and port 9 may be variedwithout departing from the contemplated scope and spirit of thisinvention.

Other details of construction of the invention herein described may beapplied as might occur to one skilled in the art, and have therefore notbeen shown in complete detail. Other embodiments. may be developedwithout departing'from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for condensing vapors from gaseous streams which comprisesan elongated generally tubular container containing an inlet tube and anoutlet tube, a cup member disposed within said container in spacedrelationship to the inner surface of said container, an open-ended diptube projecting downward through the bottom of said cup member andterminating within said container beneath said cup member, a tubularcoil disposed within said cup member and communicating through one endthereof with said dip tube and through the other end thereof with saidoutlet tube, said inlet tube projecting through a wall of said containerand terminating within said cup member near said coil.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a necked portion in the endof said inlet tube within said cup member.

3. The device of claim 1 further comprising a port in said container forremoving condensed vapors from said container.

1. A device for condensing vapors from gaseous streams which comprisesan elongated generally tubular container containing an inlet tube and anoutlet tube, a cup member disposed within said container in spacedrelationship to the inner surface of said container, an open-ended diptube projecting downward through the bottom of said cup member andterminating within said container beneath said cup member, a tubularcoil disposed within said cup member and communicating through one endthereof with said dip tube and through the other end thereof with saidoutlet tube, said inlet tube projecting through a wall of said containerand terminating within said cup member near said coil.
 2. The device ofclaim 1 further comprising a necked portion in the end of said inlettube within said cup member.
 3. The device of claim 1 further comprisinga port in said container for removing condensed vapors from saidcontainer.